Captive monoflier



R. R. RADABAUGH.

CAPTIVE MONOFLIER. APPLIcATHSN FILED FEB. 1a, 1915.

1,358,246. Patented Nov. 9,1920.

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CAPHVE MONOFUER.

APPLICATION man FEB. 1a, 19 8.

1,358,246. Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

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A TTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROY R. RADAJSAUGH, OF LOI\TG BEAOH, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THEMONOFLYER COMPANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OFCALIFORNIA.

CAPTIVE MONOFLIER.

Application filed February 18, 1918.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, RoY R. RADABAUGH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Long Beach, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Captive Monofiier, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to an amusement apparatus of the type embodyingcaptive airplanes. In the ordinary construction of devices of the abovecharacter, particularly such'as are employed as passenger conveyers, itis the common practice to suspend carriages by cables from an overheadrevoluble frame in such manner that on rotating the frame the carriageswill be caused to swing outwardly and upwardly under the action ofcentrifugal force; the carriages traversing a circular course on an evenkeel and at a side inclination on a plane governed by the speed ofrotation of the overhead frame. The height attained by the carriageunder the action of centrifugal force is pro portional to the load ofthe carriage and its occupants relative to its speed of travel and inorder to elevate the carriage to a given height it is necessary for itto travel at a certain speed.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a counterbalancing means indevices of the above character for assisting the centrifugal actionwhereby the carriage may be elevated to a given height, all otherconditions being equal, at less speed of travel than can be attained bythe cable suspension construction referred to.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the carriagemay be manually controlled by a passenger and caused to rise and fall,or dip and be caused to have an undulating movement when in motion.

Another object is to provide means whereby the carriage will bemaintained in a substantially horizontal position transversely,irrespective of its height or plane of travel.

A further object is to provide details of construction whereby strengthcombined with lightness is attained, and safety secured.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 1s a view in side elevation of an Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

Serial No. 217,821.

amusement apparatus, showing the invention as applied.

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the airplane suspending means.

Fig. 3 is a detail in perspective illustrat- 111%1'116 pivotal mountingof the hanger.

1g. 4: is a detail in sectional elevation showing the pivotal connectionbetween the airplane and the hanger.

Fig. 5 is a view of the same in side elevation.

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation of the airplane.

Fig. 7 is a detail in perspective illustrating the airplane wings orailerons and their control means.

More specifically 9 indicates a stationar frame or tower on the upperend of which is mounted a revoluble frame 10 attached to a verticalshaft 11 arranged within the tower and connected at its lower end tosuitable driving and control mechanism 12 by which it may be rotated torevolve the overhead frame. The overhead frame embodies radial spokes 13connected together at the outer ends by rails 14; a coupling member 15being provided at the juncture of the spokes and rails. Truss rods 16lead from the coupling and connect with an extension 17 on the shaft11,'providing a substantial support for the overhead frame. The coupling15 is provided with a depending lug 18 to which a rigid depending hanger19 is pivotally connected to swing radially of the overhead frame bypivot pins 20 connecting the lug to a yoke 21 attached to the upper endof the hanger. The yokie is formed with an inwardly projecting 'sleeve22 to which a counterbalancing arm 23 is fixed; the arm 23 normallyextending parallel with the spoke 13 between guide members 24: on thelatter. A brace 25 extends at an angle between the hanger and thecounterbalancing arm to give additional support to the latter. Thecounterbalancing arm is of such length and weight and if necessary itsouter end may be provided with additional weight whereby it will operateas a counterbalance for the load to be carried by the hanger. The lowerend of the hanger is fitted with a collar 26 having opposed lugs 27 onwhich pairs of depending links 28 are pivoted. The lower ends of thelinks are spread and are pivoted to a bar 29 to form a Wt) M brace bar30 connects with the bar 29 andextends upwardly between the pairs oflinks. As a means for limiting the swinging movement of the bar 29 andalso for safety purposes, cables 31 extend at an angle between the outerends of the bar 29 and connect -with the overhead frame, these cableshav- ,ing sufiicient slack to permit the desired rocking movement of thebar. Extending lengthwise of the bar is a shaft 32 revolubly supportedin bearings 33 on which shaft an airplane body 34 is rigidly supportedby hangers 35; the shaft and bearings forming a pivotal mounting for theairplane whereby it may be normally maintained in a horizontal positiontransversely irrespective of the position assumed by the hanger. As ameans for insuring the airplane remaining in its horizontal positiontransversely, a drag cable 36 is arranged parallel with the hanger andspaced therefrom on its inner side and connects at its upper end withthe spoke 13, and at its lower end with the inner plane of the airplane,thus forming with the hanger a parallel motion "suspension for theairplane' The airplane is provided with side planes 37 on the rear edgesof which are hinged vertically swinging ailerons 38 which are connectedtogether by a crank bar 39 across the cock-pit. The ailerons arenormally maintained in upper position by springs 40 and are limited intheir downward movement by a stop 41 po sitioned in the path of thecrank bar 39.

In the operation of the invention, on rotation of the overhead frame thepivoted depending hangers with the airplanes thereon will swingoutwardly under action of centrifugal force which is assisted by actionof the counterbalancing arm, as the hanger swings outwardly the airplanewill remain horizontal transversely of the cable 36. When the operatordesires to impart an undulating movement to the airplane'while inflight, the ailerons are depressed by the crank bar so as to catch theair, and which ailerons by reason of being of considerable area willdirect the nose of the airplane upv ward; the link suspension of theairplane permitting this movement.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention,it is manifest that various changes may be made in the detailsofconstruction without de parting from the spirit and scope of theinvention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim: 1. In acaptive airplane, a rotary overhead frame, an airplane,dependent parallel motion hanging means suspending said air- 1 planefrom the overhead frame for main taining the airplane horizontaltransversely, means operable from'the airplane for imparting undulatingmovement to the airplane when in motion, and means for counterbalanoingthe depended airplane. I

2. In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a series of swinging hangersthereon, airplanes suspended on said hangers pivoted for longitudinaland transverse movement relative to the hangers, means for automaticallymaintaining the airplanes horizontal transversely, and manuallycontrolled means for imparting an undulatory movement to the airplanelongitudinally while in motion.

3. In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a series of swinging hangersthereon, airplanes suspended on said hangers pivoted for longitudinaland transverse movement relative to the hanger, means for automaticallymaintaining the airplanes horizontal transversely, manually controlledmeans for imparting an undulatory movement to the airplanelongitudinally while in motion, and means acting on the hangers forcounterbalancin the airplanes.

4. fn a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a series ofswinging hangersthereon, airplanes suspended on said hangers pivoted for longitudinaland transverse movement relative to the hangers, means for automaticallymaintaining the airplane horizontal transversely, and manuallycontrolled means for-rocking the airplanes longitudinally.

5. In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a series of swinging hangersthereon, airplanes suspended on said hangers pivoted for longitudinaland transverse movement relative to the hangers, means for automaticallymaintaining the airplane horizontal transversely, manually controlledmeans for rocking the airplanes longitudinally, and means for limitingthe rocking of the airplanes in either direction.

6. In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a rigid depending hanger, anairplane pivoted on said hanger for transverse and longitudinalmovement, a cable connecting the frame and airplane for holding thelatter 1' 5 horizontal laterally, and a pair of cables connected to theframe for limiting the longitudinal pivotal movement of the airplane.

In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a rigid depending hanger, anairplane pivoted on said hanger for transverse and lon- 4 gitudinalmovement, a cable connecting the frame and airplane for holding thelatter horizontal laterally, a pair of cables connected to the frame forlimiting the longitudinal pivotal movement of the airplane, and meansacting on the hanger for counterbalancing the airplane.

8. In a captive airplane, a rigid depending hanger,

a rotary frame, an alrplane piv- Elli oted on said hanger for transverseand longitudinl movement, a cable connecting the frame and airplane forholding the latter horizontal laterally, a pair of cables connected tothe frame for limiting the longitudinal pivotal movement of theairplane, and manually controlled means for tipping the airplanelongitudinally when in motion. I

9. In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a rigid depending hanger, anairplane pivoted on said hanger for transverse and longitudinalmovement, a cable connecting the frame and airplane for holding thelatter horizontal laterally, a pair of'cables connected to the frame forlimiting the longitudinal pivotal movement of the airplane,

means on the hanger for counterbalancing the airplane, and manuallycontrolled means for tipping the airplane longitudinally when m motion.I

10. In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a depending hanger thereon,an airplane body suspended on said hanger and pivoted for longitudinalmovement, connected ailerons on opposite sides of the airplane body,yieldable means for normally holding said ailerons in an upper position,means for moving said ailerons to cause the airplane body to rock on itspivotal mounting when in motion, and means for maintaining the airplanebody horizontal transversely.

11. In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a depending hanger thereon,an airplane body suspended on said hanger and pivoted for longitudinalmovement, connected ailerons on opposite sides of the airplane body,yieldable means for normally holding said ailerons in an upper position,means for moving said ailerons to cause the airplane body to rock on itspivotal mounting when in motion, means for limiting the rocking movementof the airplane body, and means for maintaining the airplane bodyhorizontal transversely.

12. In a captive airplane, a swinging hanger, a pair of links suspendedfrom the hanger, a bar pivotally supported by the links to swingrelative to the hanger in the direction of the length of said bar, andan airplane pivotally supported on said bar for lateral movementrelative to said bar.

13. In a captive airplane, a swinging hanger, a pair of links suspendedfrom the hanger, a bar supported by the links to swing relative to thehanger, an airplane pivotally supported on said bar for lateralmovement, and means for limiting the lateral movement of the airplanewhereby it will be maintained horizontal transversely when the hanger isswung from the perpendicular.

1a. In a captive airplane, a swinging hanger, a pair of links suspendedfrom the hanger, abar supported by the links to swing relative to thehanger, an airplane pivotally supported on said bar for lateralmovement, and means for limiting swinging movement of the bar.

15. In a captive airplane, a swinging hanger, a pair of links suspendedfrom the hanger, a bar supported by the links to swing relative to thehanger, an airplane pivotally supported on said bar for lateralmovement, means for limiting the lateral movement of the airplanewhereby it will be maintained horizontal transversely when the hanger isswung from the perpendicular, and means for limiting swinging movementof the bar.

16. In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a pair of rigid membersjoined at right angles to each other and pivoted at their intersectionto the frame with one of the members depending vertically and the otherextending horizontally, and an airplane on the dependent membercounterbalanced by the horizontal member.

17. In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a pair of rigid membersjoined at right angles to each other and pivoted at their intersectionto the frame with one of the members depending vertically and the otherextending horizontally, an airplane on the dependent membercounterbalanced by the horizontal member, and a brace connecting thetubular members and supporting the outer portion of the horizontalmember.

18. In a captive airplane, a rotary frame, a pair of rigid membersjoined at right angles to each other and pivoted at their intersectionto the frame with one of the members depending vertically and the otherextending horizontally, an airplane on the dependent membercounterbalanced by the horizontal member, a brace connecting the tubularmembers and supporting the outer portion of the horizontal member, andtruss cables reinforcing the dependent member. 19. In a captiveairplane, a rotary frame, a depending hanger thereon, an airplane bodysuspended on said hanger and pivoted for longitudinal movement,connected ailc-' rons on opposite sides of the airplane body, yieldablemeans for normally holding said ailerons in an upper position, and meansfor moving said ailerons to cause the airplane body to rock on itspivotal mounting when in motion.

ROY R. RADABAIGII.

